We’ve heard Hank Williams III’s thoughts on the biopic about his grandfather I Saw The Light starring the British-born Tom Hiddleston as Hank set to be released on November 27th, and we’ve heard from critics who attended the premier screenings of the film at the Toronto International Film Festival who almost universally panned the film’s effort, with one critic calling it “shockingly bad.”

Now another blood relative of Hank, his granddaughter Holly Williams has sounded off on the film, but unlike others, is doing so favorably.

“I’m personally very happy with it,” Holly said to Rolling Stone recently while backstage at Farm Aid, a week after screening the biopic. “The film’s producer, Marc Abraham, is a friend and we talked with him throughout the entire process.”

Hank Williams III has said he was never contacted by the filmmakers for consultation or anything else. Hank3 was especially critical of the decision to bring Tom Hiddleston in to play Hank.

Though many of the film critics from the Toronto screenings tore the film apart, they focused mostly on the screenplay, and the pace and focus of the scenes. Few had anything critical to say of Tom Hiddleston’s portrayal of Hank. In fact his performance was singled out as one of the few bright spots of the film. Holly Williams agrees.

“Tom really put his whole heart and soul into it. He worked so hard to embody everything about Hank, all of the nuances and who Hank really was. Tom put all his passion into his performance,” Holly said. “Elizabeth Olsen, who played Hank’s wife Audrey, was really amazing as well. I’m incredibly happy with the whole thing. I thought it was brilliant.”

However Holly’s take appears to be in the minority. As more reviews continue to be published of the film, a consensus on the film being a letdown appears to be building. One of the few positive takes from JoBlo can only muster calling the film “serviceable,” and saying it “certainly isn’t the grand-slam biopic many of us walked into TIFF hoping for, but it’s far from the misfire some have been saying it is.”

The next screenings for I Saw The Light will be during the Austin Film Festival, October 29th through November 5th.

In other Holly Williams news, the songwriter also says she’s working on a new album with producer Dave Cobb. Holly’s 2013 album The Highway was considered a critic’s favorite.

24 Comments

Dr. Doom
September 30, 2015 @
8:45 am

See, Tom Hiddleston did a magnificent job portraying this legendary figure. Everything that may or may not be wrong with this film is no fault of his. Hank 3 should issue a written apology for his harsh criticisms. And, as always, the great Victor von Doom was proven right!

Crash and Burn! It is about the rise of Metro-Bro and its devastating effects on Cumulous. It has a double meaning because Cumulous also crashed and burned, and took Metro-Bro with it. This sets the stage for country music to be saved.

I think he makes a valid point, albeit harsh. I thought Hank III had shades of his grandpa’s talent, but his best days are behind him. it’s been a steady decline of artistic vision and creativity since straight to hell, and I honestly blame the drug use. although, that album is a seminal piece of art and who’s to say it wasn’t the drug use that produced that album?

I think the bigger problem is that Hank formed his opinion based on almost no evidence and automatically assumed Hiddleston couldn’t do it. Holly at least waited to actually see the movie before chiming in.

I agree he’s entitled to an opinion but any half brained filmmaker can see Hank 3 is far from the authority on senior in any way, shape, or form. It’s probably obvious by now I think Hank 3 is a worthless sack of shit and a desecration to his granddads name.

I would agree Trigger. Also, Hank3 is still putting out better music than nearly everyone IMO. And his live shows are as good as it gets. You always get your money’s worth from Shelton with his 4-5 hr shows. Far from a sack of shit Adam. Hank3 is the Tony Iommi of Country Music rhythm guitar/riffs. Best ever.

One thing about a movie is a lot of times doesn’t matter who is playing the lead. If it is not written well, then it is gonna suck. The most important thing for this film was having a genuinely good script. I will wait to form my opinion on the movie.

Holly Williams is generic. If she wasn’t the daughter of Jr., no one would give a fuck. Really people, if you listen to her music it’s just okay. Why else would she depend on the press always bringing up who her granddad is? She doesn’t know shit about country music. This is just bullshit and really no one cares. Holly is a rich girl living the fabulous new Nashville life and has no way of understanding anything of depth past the Green Hills Mall where she grew up shopping.

Holly Williams is generic. If she wasn”™t the daughter of Jr., no one would give a fuck.

My first exposure to Holly Williams was when she opened for John Hiatt at a show I saw in the late aughts. I thought she was personable and played a nice set, but she didn’t distinguish herself much from the many other opening singer/songwriter sets I’d seen over the years. Shawn Colvin Light would be a good description. I think she had two albums out at the time. I passed on buying a CD.

She won me over with her album The Highway. It was one of my favorites of 2013. Apparently, she won more than a few others over in the Americana community. For example, her album was #3 in the No Depression Reader’s Poll that year and #7 in the Featured Blogger’s poll. And that’s a community where being Hank Jr.’s daughter is absolutely not an asset, except maybe indirectly (it means she’s Hank Sr.’s grandchild). I saw her do a great opening set for Jason Isbell. I’m a long time Isbell fan, but I would have been happy to hear at least a few more songs from Holly that night.

I don’t know anything about the movie. I hope it’s good..
I’ll just say that the thought of casting Hank 3 as Hank Williams makes no sense. An actor should come to the role with a completely fresh take–not be personally invested and caught up in the story. And has Hank 3 ever even acted?
Anyway, Hank 3 is too old. Hank Williams died at 29. You need an actor who’s in his 20s–or at least can pull it off–to capture what Hank Williams must have been like.

Because holly Williams knows exactly what hank as was like. I can’t stand her personally because every time she’s in the limelight she’s playing off of her grandfather and talking about the kind of man he was when she never met him. I know stories of my great grandfather but I still don’t know exactly what kind of man he was. Never will.

Ultimately, how this performs at the box office will determine what people think of it. Sometimes a movie is good and doesn’t make much money, and sometimes a movie is bad and makes a ton of money. People tend to see how much something has made and pass judgement on it, even if they haven’t seen it. Sad, but true.

If this is successful, expect a couple more country music biography movies. WALK THE LINE was pretty successful, and people obviously thought that a movie about Hank Williams’ life could be successful, so here we are. Hiddleston’s marquee name value from THE AVENGERS movies doesn’t hurt, either.

People don’t get is that hank used drugs to and bashing hank 3 for that is nonsense Hank never cared what people thought and did his own thing he was as popular back then as hank 3 is now. Hank 3 should’ve played the role